I received this book via Netgalley in return for an honest review. I enjoyed this book immensely. It is the story of 'how Santa came to be' , wrapped in the much larger and adventurous tale of Volgha, the Winter Witch. The author does a great job of creating the North Pole area, a kingdom called Aurora, and introducing you to wonderful characters. He mixes in Norse mythology, elves, and necromancers and crazy courtiers. Volgha just wants to be left alone to practice the Witching Way, in her own little hovel (er, cottage) in the forest. But her maniac sister, the Queen, is abetted by Loki to make Volgha's life a nonstop set of interruptions and silliness. Volgha agrees to help Loki trick the world's best trickster (that would be Loki himself). A series of unfortunate events occur, forcing Volgha to interact with others - she meets Santa, Krespo the elf, Matilda the official Tickler, and many others. This is a fun book. The author creates people who are self-deprecating and engaging (well, mostly - the courtiers remain vapid throughout the book!). I recommend it if you enjoy Piers Anthony, for example.

The Winter Riddle is a funny, entertaining tale that blends Santa with witches, Vikings, and Norse gods. The book kept me amused from start to finish, and often had me laughing out loud. The characters are well written and nicely fleshed out, and the plot is great fun and perfectly paced. All in all, this is a great book to read snuggled up by the fire on a cold winter's night. I appreciated the quirky humour in this piece and would definitely read more by the author in the future.

ARC Copy...a yuletide humorous, absurd winter fantasy with a reluctant winter witch, a Santa who is not exactly the jolly old fellow and swearing in wolf.

This was a fun fairytale. We have the reluctant hero and heroine. The quirky sidekicks. Defeated quirky bad guys and the ambivalent Gods. I laughed, cheered and shouted for them to save their world. This review is via NETGALLEY.

DNF. Sorry, I just did not see the point or the humor. The writing, thus the story line, seemed forced and without depth. This type of fantastic story, even with the addition of Santa, was not worth my time.